Gaming devices currently exist with games having the single goal or objective of achieving the highest award possible. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,255 B1, which issued on Feb. 20, 2001, and which is assigned on its face to WMS Gaming Inc., discloses a bonus round in which a player has one or more opportunities to choose masked bonus awards from a group of masked awards displayed to the player. When the player chooses a masked award from the group, the game removes the mask and either awards the player with a bonus value or terminates the bonus round with a bonus terminator. The outcome depends upon whether the player selects an award or a terminator.
In this game, the controller of the gaming device randomly places a predetermined number of masked awards and terminators in the group at the beginning of the bonus round and maintains the positioning until the bonus round terminates. When the player selects a masked award, the player receives the value of the award. The player then selects another masked award, and the process continues until the player selects a masked terminator. The goal in this game is to not pick a terminator for as long as possible and accumulate as many credits as possible. There is no risk involved with making subsequent picks and no reason for the player to stop picking before picking a masked terminator.
PCT application PCT/AU97/00121 entitled, Slot Machine Game with Roaming Wild Card, having a publication date of Sep. 4, 1997, discloses another example. In this game, a slot machine having a video display contains a plurality of rotatable reels with game symbols. When the player receives a triggering symbol or combination, the game produces a bonus symbol. The bonus symbol moves from game symbol to game symbol temporarily changing the game symbol to a bonus symbol. If the change results in a winning combination, the player receives an award. This game provides no risk for advancement of the symbol.
Other types of games have the goal of achieving the highest award possible and also include an element of risk in the player's decision. For example, a well known offer/acceptance game provides a player with a series of offers, where each offer includes a number of credits, coins, tokens or dollars. The player may accept or reject each offer prior to the final offer. The offers are randomly determined from a series of potential offers of differing values, which are displayed to the player. The player therefore knows whether the current offer is a “good” offer. If the current offer is a good offer, but not the best offer, the player must decide whether to risk the good offer for a chance of obtaining the best offer.
The element of risk provided by offer/acceptance games has made them very popular in the gaming industry. Moreover, varying award returns with risk increases player anticipation, excitement and enjoyment. Some players enjoy risking obtained awards for higher awards especially in bonus games where the awards are in addition to base game awards. Some players take more risks employing different strategies than they use in the normal base games. Other players enjoy playing it safe and playing for the largest highly probable award. It is therefore desirable to have a gaming device with a primary or bonus game that enables the player to play for more valuable and more risky awards or to play for less valuable but more likely awards.